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Hailing from Dallas, Texas, USA, we find alternative hard rockers ELEVENTEEN. The quartet have an excellent new nine track album out now called 'Four' which clocks in at around thirty-six minutes long and is the band's fourth release, and the band have been active since the nineties.
I must say, I was not expecting this, this album literally blew my socks off, the songs are all full of energy, and diverse but with a familiar catchy vibe all the way through, what you get is a classic hard rock album with a fresh an alternative energy, these guys are the real deal, they sound genuine and like they are having shit loads of fun.
The album gets underway with the fantastic 'Strings', The first thing you notice Jason Awalt who is an incredible singer. The song is heavy and groove based, yet melodic vibrant and catchy with soaring energy driven vocals, this guy just kills and is one of the best singers I have heard in a long while. His range is off the chart, add to the pure musicianship, especially Alan Sartain's bass grooves, this is a big sounding catchy rocker with an alternative edge, trust me, your feet will be tapping away right from the start.
'Stay' sees Alan's rumbling away on his bass against solid drumming from Michael Cheyney. It is a catchy up beat alternative hard rocker which gets faster and catchier as the song grows with Jason and Michael, both again killing it, vibrant with tons of energy.
'Make It Last' is heavy and vibrant, it’s a killer catchy track that has a strong Extreme groove with funky guitars, again this is catchy outstanding guitar playing that flows with some Eddie Van Halen influences, this is one of my fave tracks hat adds a vibrant alternative edge, think along the lines of SoundGarden. Jason again sings the song like his life depends on it.
'Hold Me Down' has a southern guitar edge at the start before bursting into an energy driven classic hard rocker. This is another highlight and killer vibrant song that has a Stone Temple Pilots vibe mixed with a strong seventies hard rock edge, vibrant, catchy with the band slamming it hard.
'Home' has a more melodic guitar feel. It’s a solid ballad with added keyboards that adds an atmospheric edge. The vocals here reminds me a little of Eddie Vedder and the song is quite groove based deep and alternative.
The dynamic 'All Grown Up' is my overall favourite song on the album and is catchy as fuck, Jason's vocals are again off the chart, the song is full of energy and groove based with a seventies rock and alternative vibe. The bass and guitar work are both groovy and crisp with Jason really hitting it hard reminding me so many sinner, this track is awesome. The band here nail it. For some reason, the band Bang Tango come to mind. 'Sometimes' is catchy and upbeat with a strong melodic but heavy anthemic edge. The guitar playing is again very impressive with fab noodling from Michael.
The awesome 'Gasoline' is a heavier with a looser seventies classic hard rock vibe, its anthemic and catchy with an experimental guitar edge.
The album ends with a dynamic acoustic version of 'Home', the guitars are fabulous with Jason singer with soaring pure emotion, very deep and melodic,
'Four' is an excellent album, each song has a pristine sound, and the whole album just hits the spot and is a ton of fun, very impressive. Highly recommended.
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